Thursday, March 13, 2014

Cool shop bike: Curtis's Grandis

Today's post features a long time companion of Curtis, his Grandis. He purchased it in the early 1980's from a gentleman named Gus Betat, who was an importer of high end cycling parts from Louisiana. Originally it was painted blue with yellow decals, the opposite of the color scheme now. Curtis sweated the paint right off the bike from putting so many miles on it. It was re painted by a long time friend of Curtis named Tim Tarbox. He is a sign painter by trade and actually painted the front of our store, signs, and designed the logo for the shop and made the first business card that I had previously posted. Tim brush painted the bike! You really have to look close to see that. He is highly skilled and it shows. Curtis had purchased a replacement decal set a long time ago and Tim also applied them.
I made no attempt to clean or "church" the bike up as to show it in its actual, ridden condition and set up. The componentry is a mixed bag that works well for Curtis. Shimano 600 hub set laced to aero profile dark anodized rims. The 8 speed rear cassette works nicely against any terrain. Shimano Dura-Ace rear derailleur and Campagnolo front Nuovo Record derailleur handle the changes. Campagnolo Nuovo Record brake set, Campagnolo Chorus Cranks (minus the auto extractors) which usually get seized anyway. Mavic bottom bracket and Mavic 310 headset, which require the unique tool for adjustment. Early Shimano Dura-Ace STI shifters work well. Flite Ti rail saddle and Campagnolo aero style seat post. Yes, those are basic MTB pedals with plastic toe clips, hey, they work. Two nice frame details are the arching rear brake bridge, which is more associated with British bikes and the engraved logo in the head tube, as opposed to a decal or head badge. Excellent construction with classic Italian lines and styling. Nice semi sloping fork crown, again with the logo cast into the shoulders. One final note is the "made in China " sticker on the under side of the down tube. We like jokes here! Enjoy!